Del. panel eyes 550K grant request from ILC Dover

Delaware development finance panels considers $550,000 in grants for ILC Dover

NEW CASTLE, Del. (AP) -- A Delaware firm known for making NASA spacesuits is asking a state panel for more than half a million dollars in taxpayer money for a new manufacturing facility in Sussex County.

ILC Dover wants a Strategic Fund Performance Grant of $364,500 in return for bringing a recently acquired subsidiary's manufacturing operations to Delaware, resulting in 115 new jobs.

The company also is asking for a capital expenditures grant of $187,860 for relocating the manufacturing operations of Grayling Industries from Georgia to Seaford.

The state Council on Development Finance was to consider the request at a meeting Monday.

Gov. Jack Markell announced ILC's expansion plans in his State of the State address earlier this month.